Gov. Daniel J. McKee on July 17 announced that the state is no longer considering a plan by a Philadelphia-based urban development and design firm to redevelop Providence’s historic Cranston Street Armory building.
In 2020, Scout Ltd. submitted a proposal to rehabilitate the 200,000-square-foot building for office, retail and recreational uses.
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But a state-commissioned report said the proposal was financially risky for the state, which would have been obligated to spend $60.9 million over a 15-year period.
The report did, however, say the armory could be a revenue generator, with potential to create more than 400 jobs during the construction phase and approximately 175 jobs after the project’s stabilization.
The proposal became mired in controversy after a trip by two former state officials – David Patten, the state’s former property director, and James Thorsen, the former director of the R.I. Department of Administration – to Philadelphia resulted in accusations by the developer of unethical behavior that launched investigations by the R.I. Ethics Commission.
